A great teacher. My kid learned a lot of puzzles and have enjoyed classes with Artiom. Artiom is a serious coach, has assignments for kids all the time. His coaching online is a big plus to Liran's success in his chess career.* Thank you.

* "Following our online coaching between April 2015 and January 2017, Liran became the youngest ever national master in US history in August 2017 at the age of 9 years, 3 months, and 22 days. Later the same month he won the World Chess Cadet Championship in the U10 outright with 9.5/11” - Artiom Tsepotan

So very patient, tackles individual problems with dexterity. Awesome. Our son says he is the best teacher he has ever had! Artiom takes care to improve the lines the student plays. He has improved our sons calculations by giving puzzles and working on his blunders. We are happy to have him coach our son.

Artiom has been helping me for a number of years now to go from 1400+ to 2000+ on ICC. Over the years, Artiom has been willing and able to use different methods to fit the way that I learn best. He has also been very patient, has been clear with his explanations, and has politely explained something over again if I need to hear it again.

In other words, Artiom not only has the mind of a good chess player, he also has the heart of a good chess teacher.

IM Artiom has been coaching our son for over a year now. The first thing that sparked
my interest was that he had a Master's degree in Education. This was particularly important to us because we
have learned that just because you have a title and a high rating, it doesn't mean that you can impart
knowledge.

Our young son is an international junior champion, and Artiom has helped him to achieve
many successes during the short period that he has been with him. Most notably, Artiom coached our son to
win gold for our country in a 2016 international tournament. His FIDE rating has improved, and he is excited
about his accomplishments. Artiom is punctual, patient, and highly efficient. He provides a comprehensive chess
training program, with thorough preparation for chess tournaments, as well as support throughout
tournaments.

Within the first few months of coaching my daughter's USCF rating jumped up by several hundred points and has been increasing since then. He has corrected and asked her to work on good habits and skills for playing chess. He spends each lesson regularly reviews games and homework with her. The homework is challenging but very instructive. Her online rating is now around 1750+.

On top of all this, he is kind, patient and very well prepared. He is always on time for lessons. I can tell that he is always thinking about his students and how to improve their chess understanding.

I am very thankful for Artiom and his guidance. I would highly recommend him. He is a wonderful chess coach!

My son Vlad has worked with IM Artiom for several months. And I have already seen a steady improvement in Vlad`s chess skills. Artiom is giving not only chess tactics but also helps improving my child`s confidence which is crucial for tournaments. Before the tournaments he gives a bunch of useful advice. His motivation is always there when you need it.

I am extremely glad I made the good choice to have Artiom as my son's coach. I would recommend him to anybody who is looking for a responsible chess coach with the efficient teaching method.

An awesome chess coach! I have studied chess with Artiom for over three years and have learned a lot from him. I especially like the way he analyzes games. With Artiom’s training method, I quickly improved my rating to 1700. When I need help, he prepares me very well and gives me opening lines to play. His analysis of games is superior: he matches the engine’s suggestion almost every time. Also, his schedule is very flexible, and we never have any problems rescheduling a lesson.

I highly recommend him if you want to rapidly improve your chess knowledge and rating.

Artiom is a very good coach and helped me move up 300 rating points. He gave me different kinds of puzzles for homework according to what I needed or asked about. He analyzed my games with me. He's very nice and patient.

I would recommend him for anyone who wishes to improve their game. Thanks to Artiom, a great coach!

When I started my lessons with IM Artiom Tsepotan around April 2014 my rating was in early 1800s. In just about a span of 5 months I was/am consistently able to beat the 2000-2100 rated guys and jumped up almost around 200 points since then.

As a coach, his lessons were impressively structured for my rating range. He used to analyze my games and accordingly give me assignments from the positions/openings I generally play which really helped me with my thought process and helped gain a deeper understanding of the positional concepts.

Artiom is very punctual and you will always find him online 5-10mins before your session begins. He is clear in his speech and I absolutely had no trouble understanding him. I would highly recommend Artiom if you are considering on getting a coach to improve your chess.

When I started coaching with Artiom over 10 years ago my ACF rating was 1759 it is now 2121 and I still think i'm improving.Homework is always challenging and instructive.i would recommend Artiom to anyone who is interested in improving their knowledge and understanding in chess.

I can say that after only about 10 to 15 hours of instruction total
within the last 4-5 months, my tactical chess ability has improved so much
that I no longer feel at a disadvantage when facing much stronger opponents
in a tournament. An opponent's rating of 200 points or more above my
current rating is no big deal.

My rating is going up now due to more than one successful tournament
result.. Recently, I won the Reserve section at the Stillwater Open in
October in Oklahoma with one draw and 4 wins out of 5 rounds.
The very next weekend I tied for first at the Mississippi State
Championship in the Reserve section with 4 wins & one loss. AND, that loss
was due to a freak-out response to my opponent's material sacrifice of a
knight although Artiom later pointed out it was unsound. Artiom even
suggested that the player I should review(his games) is Nakamura since I
have a similar style of play & would benefit from that.

It is too bad that American players must seek quality instruction outside
our borders, but at least we have a fantastic guide & teacher in Artiom. My
only regret is not living close enough to Artiom to play him personally on
occasion. Thanks, Bill Winters/ Retired Pharmacist & Chess Organizer for
the North/West Texas Region / Wichita Falls

My son Nathan has trained with Artiom for 2 years. I have seen the steady improvement in Nathan's chess skills. This year he won the 1st place in Grade 7 section of the provincial chess challenge for K-12. This qualified him for the Canadian Chess Challenge in Ottawa to compete with the other provincial champions where he earned the 4th place. Now Nathan is motivated to learn more and play more.

Artiom is a well-behaved coachwho is always punctual for lessons. He is very flexible with scheduling lessons, which is a big bonus to us. Artiom willingly accommodates us whenever Nathan has activities that conflict with the lesson.

I am glad I made the good choice to have Artiom as my son's coach. I would recommend him to anybody who is looking for a responsible chess coach with the efficient teaching method.

I just wanted to say thanks for the chess lessons, I have learned a great deal and feel my ratings will definitely increase in the future. What I found of great value is the training was not about moves, but rather more on the concepts. By understanding the concepts it makes move selections so much easier over the board.

For anyone considering a chess mentor on ICC I give you the highest mark of excellent! I should also mention to others that you started me with a test to evaluate my playing ability, followed by home work to go over each week. The homework ranged from Tactics, to exchanges and positional play, all of which provided great insight into how to view the board... Thanks again your training was excellent!

My daughter Maryia started lessons with IM Artiom Tsepotan in 2006, when she was in the 2nd grade. Maryia was rated about 700 USCF then.

We work with Artiom for over six years already. Artiom is much more than a chess coach, going above and beyond chess instruction, helping Maryia improve her thought process, study habits and skills, and develop solid work ethic. Artiom was the main coach of Maryia all these years and guided her all the way up to her current rating of 2000 USCF - with many tournaments, ups and downs, trips, and trophies. Maryia was qualified and played at Panamerican Chess Festival 2009 in Argentina, World Youth Championship 2010 in Greece, and World Youth Championship 2011 in Brazil where she took 6th place - among 90 players in her section!

Artiom is a very strong chess player, helping to improve all aspects of one's game - from opening preparation, to tactics, positional play, and even tournament psychology. The lessons and homework are just right for each chess skill level. You can expect fast and steady improvements when you start taking lessons with Artiom.

More than that, Artiom also has a background in education and we believe this makes all the difference between a typical chess coach (a strong tournament player, often with a title) and Artiom. Artiom's degree in education helps him and his students be most effective and productive studing chess and achieving lasting results, keeping students engaged in the lessons, chess study and chess play.

We highly recommend Artiom as a truly great and remarkable chess coach.

I have been trained under supervision of IM. Artiom for nearly 3 months and I am totally satisfied with his lessons. From the first session he spotted my weakness in Tactics and since then he mostly dealt with improving my tactical vision through providing good homework every session and also introducing additional resources. My lessons were divided into three parts; (1) reviewing and analyzing homework including my solution and his solution , (2) analyzing my games and correcting my mistakes, (3) if we had time, dealing with some other aspects such as defense and endgame.

The lessons especially homework were so useful so that now I have better insight into chess tactics and surprisingly I apply it in my games and even I had a win over a player stronger than me via applying tactic, Incredible! In addition, game analyzing was so great since he mentioned my mistakes and corresponding reasons then he explained what the correct move and plan was and how I should have continued the game.

IM. Artiom is very well behavior and polite in addition to his punctuality and patience. During the class he just focused on the lessons and made a complete use of time. Hereby, I would like to thank him and appreciate his attempt for improving my chess quality.

All in all, I believe IM. Artiom is a great instructor and I highly recommend him for improving your chess skills.

My 10 year old son has taken once a week lessons with Artiom for almost 2 years now. I have sat in with my son on about half of them. Artiom is an excellent player and coach and we are happy to have him to instruct our son. He is always very patient and polite during the lessons having respect for the time and effort that it takes someone learning to play to gain the necessary understanding of the position. He is not afraid to bring up or even if necessary emphasize any mistakes or tendencies that need to be corrected, but always with encouragement and urgency with the purpose of making the player better, never in a condescending manner.

When we have a chess tournament or some other activity that conflicts with the lesson time, Artiom is unfailingly understanding and sometimes we have to cancel due to the time difference making rescheduling rather difficult. He keeps track of the time difference and insists on using our local time (which includes daylight savings time) showing just one example of his great attention to detail and high level of organization. On the other hand he very seldom ever asks us to switch times or has to cancel a lesson. He assigns 4 homework problems each week and goes over them in the first part of the next week's lesson. Then game analysis takes the last part of the lesson.

His approach is no nonsense and direct, but at the same time pleasant and praising when a correct move or idea is found by his student. Owing much to Artiom's expert training and direction combined of course with his own hard work my son was able to lead his school team to the state championship, even though he was only in 2nd grade competing in a section with mostly with 3rd grade students from a city of about 100 times the population of our town. Now he rarely finishes out of the trophies in any scholastic event and we have had to re-arrange our large family room to try to fit in all of the trophies he has won, including several 1st place overall. We have met many interesting people at these tournaments, so it has been a benefit to our entire family.

In summary I would say that if your son or daughter has the enthusiasm for the game, then Artiom would be a great choice provide the know how to make a champion of him or her.

I have just completed several months of lessons with IM Artiom
Tsepotan and it has been very valuable in terms of improving my chess
ability and understanding. As an adult player with 20 years playing experience (approx. 2000 elo) and having studied many books during that period, I had reached a
point where my chess was no longer improving. However, Artiom's
excellent lessons were able to highlight my weaknesses and
misunderstandings. I was able to start viewing chess with new
insights that my own study had failed to provide on its own.

One of Artiom's teaching strengths is his ability to explain things
clearly and simply, so that they are easily understood and remembered.
When playing chess outwith the lessons, I'd often recall his advice
and be able to apply it in new positions. I found this to be more
effective than the books I had read. He has really exceptional chess
knowledge and understanding. Artiom gave me weekly homework positions that were based on improving my weaknesses, which for me included tactics. This approach was
really beneficial. There are many ideas from those positions that
have stuck as a result of such study.

Another key part of working with Artiom was the analysis of my own
games. Unlike books or chess software, Artiom was able to help me
learn the most from my games. I wasn't getting distracted by endless
variations but rather just focusing on the main points. Artiom was
able to identify common weaknesses in my play and advise me how to
improve in these areas.

Artiom also provided me with excellent advice in terms of how to
organise my chess study. This included study of master games; opening
study; etc. My study technique is now more effective. The lessons
were conducted in a very professional but friendly manner. He's a
nice guy to chat to, and speaks good English. He makes the lessons
interesting as well as instructive. Unfortunately I had to postpone further lessons due to work commitments and a young family.

In the future, when I do find time to play/study more chess, I hope Artiom is able to continue helping me. I'm very grateful to him in the meantime.

My 11 year old son has been taking weekly one hour chess lesson from IM Artiom for a year (The first lesson was on 01/26/2010). At that time, his USCF rating was around 1850. We needed a strong coach to bring him to the next level. We chose IM Artiom because we liked his teaching method. Based on the reviews on his website, we found out that he not only goes over student’s games, but also gives out homework every week. I do not see a lot coaches who give out homework after each lesson. In the first lesson, IM Artiom did a detailed evaluation of my son’s skills. Based on his observation, he felt that my son was OK with tactics and endings , but definitely needed help on the strategy. So each week he gives my son 4 positions to solve from his "Skills of Exchange" homework series. In each lesson, they start by checking the homework first. Since IM Artiom has carefully chosen these positions, he and my son analyze them deeply into different variations. This process normally take about 30 minutes. Then they go over my son's games that were played recently. Again, they analyze the position deeply and IM Artiom will make his suggestion after reviewing the whole game.

As an IM, Artiom has a broad knowledge of different openings. He will help you to build up your opening repository. For example, my son has played Sicilian Defense Sveshnikov Variation as black for a while. However, this opening is very sharp and is hard to master at his level. At one time, we thought about to switch to French. IM Artiom suggested switching to Sicilian Defence Classical Variation. After the switch, my son has a much better result when he plays black again 1. e4.

IM Artiom is always on time on his lessons. In the last whole year, he only canceled our lesson one time because he was moving on that day and the internet was not ready. We normally take the weekly lesson at a regular time. However, if my son has some other activity in school and needs reschedule the time, IM Artiom always accommodate that. Under the help of IM Artiom, my son’s rating has been improving steadily. He just became USCF expert. (Chris has now 2000+ rating) My son’s other achievements in the last year include Pennsylvania State K6 Champion (March 2010), National Youth Action K-6 second place, 2010 National Youth Blitz K6 Champ (November 2010). Hopefully my son can keep improving under the coaching by IM Artiom. We also highly recommend IM Artiom to be your chess teacher.

To play or not to play: that is the question;
Whether ‘tis nobler for the mind to withstand the
Burning cauldron of mental humiliation,
Or to forsake this royal game of battle.

To cease, to play no more, ‘tis true this ends the pain;
To cease the royal game begets yet other pain.
The pain of loss, not loss of game, but loss of art;
Gone the victory fore’er of mind over mind.

Yeah, with forces marshaled on dark and light terrain,
The art of warfare mental beckons yet again.
Chess, make no mistake, fills with pleasure the soul,
For chess is life, a continual fight till death.

This poem, written by my 13 year old son, expresses very poignantly my own love for this truly magnificent game. I learned how to play chess as a young boy and fell in love with it immediately. While I didn’t play very well or very often, my appreciation for the beauty of the game never ceased. Not until my discovery of the Internet Chess Club did I become fully hooked. Despite reading numerous books on chess, utilizing several chess software products, becoming a member of the local chess club, and playing in USCF rated tournaments; I was becoming discouraged at my seeming lack of significant progress. I came to the conclusion that while my theoretical knowledge of chess may well have been very good, applying it in concrete situations became very difficult, especially when I would continually lose “won” games because of an unseen tactical shot played by my opponent, or vice versa, because of my inability to find the tactical shots I could have played against my opponents. I finally decided to look for a chess coach.
What were my requirements for a chess coach? First and foremost, I wanted a coach with a national or international title to insure good knowledge of the game. Patience would also be a requirement since patience, I was certain, would be necessary to teach a slow learner such as myself. Lastly, since a slow learner would require more lessons over a long period of time, cost per lesson would also have to be considered.

With these priorities in mind, I began taking lessons from Artiom in late February, 2010, meeting with him on ICC and utilizing Skype for live voice conversation. We meet twice per week for 1 hour lessons. Each lesson begins with a review of homework problems and ends with a review of some of my recent games. My standard ICC rating when I first began lessons was in the 1300-1400 range. Six months later, as a write this in late August, 2010, my current ICC standard rating is in the 2100-2200 range. I am very thankful to Artiom for his help and I would highly recommend him to anyone looking for a great chess teacher.

I have played chess on and off for years with friends and enjoy following the games published in magazines. I contacted Artiom to see if he could help me gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of the game and to improve my own playing with friends. I know that I am playing significantly better than I did before, but of more importance to me, I am enjoying playing the game more than I have ever done before. Artiom is a great and patient teacher and it is fun and rewarding to work with him. "I would like to thank you for being such a great chess teacher and for getting me back into playing. I am really enjoying my games much more. When you always lose and cannot make any progress the game becomes dull and boring. Chess is becoming fun again for me and a wonderful source of relaxation."

I have been a student of artiom for almost 3 months.
From those three months, I recognized some of artiom's strengths as a teacher. He is very good at noticing your weaknesses. For example, he pointed out to me that I don't play aggresive enough and I found out that that was exactly my problem. Artiom is also very professional. He speaks nice English, has good manners, and never misses any appointments. He likes to focus on one particular aspect of your chess game at a time(well, at least in my experience). The only problem I had with him was that sometimes, he was rigid in his teaching methods. Such as when learning tactics, I wanted to do someting other than just solving tactical problems, like going over a really tactical game. However, if artiom thought that solving problems were the best method, then I'll trust his decision.
Overall, I'd say that teachers like Artiom are not common. He is a good instructor and I heartily recommend him.

I'm taking lessons from Artiom for nearly a year now. We are using ICC with Skype for talking. In the beginning Artiom was a little bit unsure about Skype but as non native English speaker I can confirm that his English is excellent and easy to understand.
We started with a set of 15 tournament games played and annotated by me. During the lessons Artiom pointed on the main weaknesses of my games. In parallel I got a set of homework positions based on his series of exchanges. We also extended my opening repertoire. After 25 years of playing chess I'm now also playing 1.d4 as White ;-).
What I really like in his lessons: He shares his thinking process when evaluating a position and never uses computer help apart from databases for the opening.
I never expected miracles but was pretty astonished that my ICC blitz rating went from around 1900 before to an all time high of around 2200 this summer. I also got my first ELO rating this year which is 2052 now.
I can highly recommend Artiom's lessons to everyone with a playing strength around mine or below. He commits himself, his lessons are diverting and the fee is absolutely reasonable.

Our son (now 11 years old) is taking lessons with Artiom for about 2 years. Artiom has affected the quality of his play to great extent. Since we started his rating went up from 800 to 1680 and our son is now beating players we woud never sat down opposite before.
What differentiates Artiom from other coaches is the quality of the analysis and the clarity of presentation, which is very important for 10-11 years old kids. He teaches to "think chess". Artiom is very friendly and polite. My son adores him and enjoys the lessons. Artiom is very flexible with scheduling lessons and punctual being always on time for lessons. He has moderate and affordable prices and we take lessons consistently.
With the training plan designed just for each of his students, Artiom changes the way players look at a chess board and opponents noticed this. He brings the fundamentals of strategy and tactics to life and shows how to think like a master. Artiom gives practical advices and words of encouragement prior to the tournaments. He reminds of strong and weak parts that need to be taken care of during the games. After the tournament he analyses the games with our son to find the best moves in each situation.
Last year Artiom made a great tournament among his students and it was a great fun! Even though it was tough for my son, who was a beginner at that time and played with much higher ratings, the atmosphere of the tournament was very pleasant and he enjoyed playing with players from different parts of the world and with different cultures, and he made friendship with them. He took 5th place out of 12 and was very encouraged and motivated to learn and play more.
I couldn't recommend Artiom more. If you have kids who play chess and want to bring their game to the next level, Artiom is just right for you!

I have been Artiom's student for six months and have been very pleased. Artiom is a very knowledgeable, supportive, and insightful coach who motivates me to do my best.Lessons are done over ICC and Skype and involve going over homework that is assigned(PGN files) and game analysis. By going over games, Artiom works on pointing out your chronic weaknesses, while the homework helps broaden your chess understanding. In my time with Artiom, my ICC rating has gone up 200 points, and with my increasing knowledge base, I expect it to rise even more.If you are concerned, Artiom's English is really quite good and I have had no troubles understanding him. If you are a good chess player who wants to improve your understanding (and subsequently your rating) I recommend him highly.

I won last night, against the player who has won the most tournaments in my club! He has won all his games so fare this autumn. I have never beaten him before, and I think I played good with white. Finally I got something out of what you have taught me ...

I've had the pleasure of taking several chess lessons with Artiom. Artiom is the most patient, kind, and generous teacher I have ever had the pleasure of studying with. I highly recommend him. Your lessons with Artiom will be both time, and money, well spent.

I have taken lessons from Artiom for a little over 2 months and his rates are very reasonable, his personality and teaching skills are top notch and he's an incredibly strong player as well. My rating has gone up over 250 points on ICC in 2 months and as soon as I get out of my financial crisis i will be returning for more lessons. Artiom listens to your needs as a player and can help in all areas, but you have to go out and work hard as well! Good luck, hes a great teacher that I highly recommend.

I have been taking chess lessons with Artiom for 10 weeks now, and I can say that I'm very happy with it. I think Artiom is a great chess instructor. He is an honest, hard working person but that's not all, his chess teaching methods are very effective and to-the-point. By combining analysis of your games and regular homework positions, Artiom effectively focuses on the weakest parts of your chess. And with regular doses of such relevant chess knowledge, I'm very optimistic about the results. As for the homework it is my favorite part, both when I try solving it by myself and later when we go over it. In the last 10 weeks, I have been introduced to 60 extremely instructive positions which me and Artiom have discussed in great depth. I can remember all of them because we spent a lot of time working on them, and I can see how this will build a very important base of typical chess positions in my brain. Artiom also organized an on-line chess tournament between his students. There were 12 participants, all very good chess players, from all over the world. The tournament was a beautiful idea and it turned out to be a great success! I'm very glad I participated! Both the chess and the conversations with people from other cultures was much, much fun. I hope this tournament becomes periodic :) In short If you are serious about improving your chess, willing to work hard and put a good amount of time in it, then Artiom is the chess coach for you, he will work as hard as you do and put in a considerable amount of effort into improving your understanding. A great instructor!

If you are looking for a chess coach that will strengthen YOUR game, then you should choose IM Artiom Tsepotan. Why? Two reasons. First, he is a superb educator that uses your games as the material for each lesson. I have found that this method helps me to avoid mistakes, and has improved my thinking. And, as I advance the lessons do too?therefore, I am always learning at my level. Second, the lessons are fun and motivating. Artiom is a very positive person who encourages you to learn, and is respectful of your ability. I really enjoy the lessons and that makes it so much easier to learn. I recommend him highly!If you are looking for a chess coach that will strengthen YOUR game, then you should choose IM Artiom Tsepotan. Why? Two reasons. First, he is a superb educator that uses your games as the material for each lesson. I have found that this method helps me to avoid mistakes, and has improved my thinking. And, as I advance the lessons do too?therefore, I am always learning at my level. Second, the lessons are fun and motivating. Artiom is a very positive person who encourages you to learn, and is respectful of your ability. I really enjoy the lessons and that makes it so much easier to learn. I recommend him highly!

I had lessons with Artiom Tsepotan throughout 2006 and most of 2007. Artiom is very punctual and well organised and never once missed a lesson without advanced notice or good reason. My chess improved working with Artiom. I have learnt countless things from him, ofcourse it is not always easy to put them all into practice. Artiom has helped to lay the foundations for future impovement. Artiom is far more than a chess teacher, he took a genuine interest in my progress, set homework and provided sample games where they were relevant. Artiom's thoughtfull advice has been of invaluable benefit to my temperament and preparation for tournaments. I would recommend him to anyone who is serious about taking lessons

An outstanding coach whose focus is on the actual games played. Excellent English and fast-typing skills. An added bonus is the regular homework which adds structure to study. Your understanding of chess will improve with Artiom. Sign up now!

Since I have started with Mr. Artiom, I've only been improving. I have achieved all my best records on icc with a 200-300 improvment in all categories. Also, my uscf rating went from a 1596 rating to 1777 and I have beaten 2200 rated players and many 2000 and 1900 rated players. IM Artiom makes me think deeply in different chess positions. He presents concepts and ideas that are the basis of concrete middlegame strategies. He also analyzes my own games thoroughly and in depth which greatly improves my understanding of my own weaknesses. Overall, I am greatly content with the lessons I have been having with IM Artiom. He has been a fantastic coach and teacher that has improved my chess playing for the better.

Artiom is an outstanding teacher. His approach to chess is aggressive. He shows me how to analyze a position so that I can find weaknesses and instructs me as to ways to deal with it. His approach to openings reflects his aggressiveness. He teaches you the best approach in the opening, which allows you to achieve a strong middlegame position. He's prompt for lessons, so that there is no wasted time, important to anyone on a tight schedule. His homework on tactics is quite good. Anyone completing any set of tactical problems,already probably has an IM in front of his name. Excellent teacher! Recommend him highly!

If you are a reasonably good player and aspiring for further advance, I can highly recommend IM Artiom's lesson. In my case, we decided to work on various type of endgames because I thought it was my main weakness. His teaching method was stunning - rather than sticking to theoretical positions, he uses practical endgames as an example, so that I can see them in more comprehensive way. The result speaks for itself. I have been 2400 ICC blitz for years, but now for the first time I broke the barrier of 2500. IM Artiom is really serious about chess, but he's not a chess geek, being communicative and cheerful. More than anything, he is never late in our lesson.

Had five lessons with Artiom, and within that short space he opened my mind to see weaknesses in my chess ability that I had never considered before. An excellent coach who goes out of his way to help his students learn. He is also always punctual for lessons, courteous, and does a lot to help build his students up, even when they make mistakes. In all an excellent teacher and coach with which you can't go wrong!

I can highly recommend artiom as a chess coach! I especially liked his format of going over the weekly homework and then going over one of my games from the past week. The homework really helped my visualization skills. Going over the games helped me identify critical points during the games, as well as realizing that often my position wasn't as bad (or as good) as I thought. So, "fight for the center" and "look for weaknesses." Thanks Artiom!

I had regular lessons with IM Artiom Tsepotan over a period of months. He was always professional, punctual, and provided excellent instruction. Artiom's emphasis is on tactics, as it should be. He assigns homework problems and they are analyzed during lessons. He also goes over games to review openings and specific moves/areas which can be improved. I have two minor criticisms. Artiom's English is adequate and improving, but not great. It was rare, however, that I felt it impossible to communicate. Second, he is such a gifted chess player that I sometimes felt instruction was at a level a bit too high for me. Overall, Artiom receives my highest endorsement. In addition to his skill as a player and coach, he is a super nice guy. Unlike some coaches who brag or denigrate their students, he is unfailingly patient. Criticism is objective, polite, and beneficial. I would recommend him in particular to intermediate/advanced players looking to improve their tactical skill and analysis at a deep level.

I had several lessons with Artiom, which were enjoyable and interesting. The instruction was tailored to my needs. As well as the lessons, Artiom prepared homework with levels of tactical problems that were appropriate for my ability. Very good value coaching. I am very happy to recommend Artiom's lessons.

Great teacher! Artiom is very clear and comes well-prepared. He can raise your level of play significantly in a short period of time. I strongly recommend. Artiom is very skilled in endgames and has great experience and chess knowledge. He also has very reasonable prices, and is flexible with timing. He speaks fluent English. I recommend him to anyone, no matter what your skill level is. After taking 5 lessons from him, my rating did go up... not 300 points as promised in his finger notes on ICC, but this could be because I did not take enough lessons.

IM Artiom is very helpful during the training. He can improve your chess skills in a few session. His understanding of the position is amazing. He will explain you in depth about a position and you will always remember the game. Good luck! Play on....

It was indeed my luck and good fortune, to come across International Master Artiom Tsepotan as my internet chess coach, referred by the ICC web site. Firstly, Artiom understood me and my history of games,then he gave me a series of problem solving homework - the grey matter was moved around quite a bit,we went thru' the solutions, the role of the key pieces, the options involved.he then watched my openings and games and we studied my mistakes and openings. I learnt and did well in some of the openings. He was exceptionally punctual, and adjusted to my schedules. I was thrilled at my improvement, and soon went from the 1300-1500 normal range to a level of 1750-1800. I started taking each game seriously. I believe I have gained more than I paid for. I will recommend Artiom as a gret coach for anyone aspiring to improve his game.

very high level instrumental in my comeback including otb wins against ims lugo, martinez, johansen, bonin, pupo, wins gm westerinen and draws with gms defermian and matakoyan and becerra thats in just one year, nice punctual and a good friend to be recommended highly

I took chess lessons (5-10) with IM Artiom Tsepotan ("Artiom") in 2006 and I was very satisfied with him--he is well-prepared, friendly, and it is clear that he has been coaching chess for awhile! Artiom works on developing his students' positional evaluation, which requires some patience but which also brings results. I stopped my lessons because I got busy with other things, but I was not at all unhappy with his work. Artiom also will help you with openings, endgames, and he offers helpful practical advice. Definitely recommended!

I like the way in which Artiom teach the chess. There is no time to read chess books but there is a desire to improve the game and receive more enjoyments in playing. Artiom uses the scope of your games to show the mistakes, the best moves, how to develop, when and how to exchange, strategy and tactics. You are playing an active role in this analysis and this will accelerate the understanding of the chess. I can remember a lot of nice (from my prospective) chess games where his advices were crucial.

When I started lessons with IM Artiom I was around 1700-1800 standard time rated, but have recently reached 2000 and expect to continue thanks to the efficient and friendly style of this very professional tutor. By analysing your own games with an emphasis on pupil inclusion, IM Artiom will assess and finetune your knowledge of fundamental principles, tactics & opening repertoire. Friendly, polite, punctual, productive and most of all, enjoyable! 10/10

I can strongly recommend IM Artiom Tsepotan as a chess teacher. He first took a look on several on my games in order to find the main weaknesses in my game, and the set a study program which would help me tom improve. He sends really interesting homework (mainly on tactics), and analyses your games with you, to show the good or bad moves you made, and help you to deepen your understanding. I don't think ICC ratings are meaningful, however I increased my blitz rating by 200 points thanks to his lessons (in fact, I think I improved my tactics a lot). Artiom is always very punctual, speaks a good english. He is really nice, and takes care of your chess just as a true coach.

I've had now 20+ lessons and a hundred training chess games with Artiom and must say I've enjoyed them all. He has the knack of pointing out your weaknesses and encouraging you to improve your game at the same time. I found his analytical skills particularly helpful in my Opening and Middle Game.I also like the fact that he offers different packages to suit even those with tight budgets. Artiom is also punctual and speaks english very well. All in all I highly reccommend him as your chess tutor.

Artiom is my first chess teacher. My rating was 1200 and in one month it has increased to 1300+ thanks to Artiom's instruction on tactics. He is very patient and I would highly recommend him to anyone truly interested in the game. I look forward to my lessons every other week and solving the homework problems he sends me by email. My love of chess has grown thanks to his instruction and I am very appreciative.

I really enjoy his teaching, he has helped me in my opening a lot. At first I decided to try him because he was cheap. But I really enjoy my lessons. At first I was thinking "Why should I improve my opening? My opening is fine". But then when he went over my games I found my opening was where I made a lot of my mistakes. He also gives me chess problems for homework that are very hard. This helps me to looks deeper into the postion.

Let just say that Artiom is a wonderful teacher and a great value. I was shopping around for a chess coach and I decided to give Artiom a try. Since I live in the USA and he lives in the Ukraine, it was difficult for us to schedule a time to get together. But he went out of his way to wake up at 2 am (his time) to give me a free introductory lesson when it would work for me. We used the Skype voice chat program and although he was concerned about his English, I had no trouble understanding him. I would highly recommend Artiom to anyone looking for a teacher. He is dedicated, works hard and genuinely cares about the improvement of his students. His passion for chess is obvious and it translates into the lessons. The only reason I didn't continue with him was simply time availabilty. It was too difficult to find a time that we were both available. I will definitely grab a lesson from him every now and then if I can! Thanks!

I am taking the chess lessons with Artiom for several months now, which is after almost 15 years not playing chess at all. Artiom made a diagnosis of my play and built a complete training program including theoretical aspects of chess, analysis of my games and home assignments. We have started a topic called "Skills of Exchange", which is aimed for improving my positional understanding. Artioms lessons are very intensive, his attitude is positive and serious. The rates are more then reasonable. I will be happy to recommend him as a personal trainer.

Artiom is very talented, patient and easy to work with. He has helped me develop all aspects of my game. He has built up a study plan for me based on the weak points from my game and I have found this plan very rewarding. His command of English is excellent and he explains concepts concisely. I highly recommend him to anyone who is serious about improving their game.

Artiom's teaching has vastly improved my chess game. I've often noticed the things we have gone over in our lesson show up in my games. My standard rating best on ICC was a low 1500 and is now 1770. My USCF rating was 1425 and is 1513 and rising. I recently played in a tournament and drew with a couple 1800 level players and even beat one 1762. Before Artiom's lessons this would not have been possible. I also find that i enjoy my games more because I understand the positions more deeply. I would suggest Artiom strongly to any chess player who seeks a deeper understanding of the game and a rating boost to go with it

So far I've had 2 lessons from Artiom and they have both been highly instructive and fun. He covers material I'm interested in and gives me homework after each lesson that is a lot of fun and educational. Right now we're focusing on tactics and gaining playable posistions from the opening: 2 things I need to work on, and I feel if I keep working with Artiom I will inevitably improve. I take lessons from him once a week and look forward all week to our next lesson. I highly recommend him. And if anyone is curious he speaks English very well.

Artiom as a coach has helped me to see the game as a whole. He is very patient and teaches to my level. For most he is punctual to the class, and some times waits for my arrival, without any hesitation. He is flexible in schedules, to accommodate other priorities. Artiom, made me to enjoy my own games, as his finger suggests. I have learnt a lot with his analysis on my games. His tactics coaching is excellent... If you want a coach, to work on a long term, for sure give Artiom a try. You will be glad you did.

I consider myself an expirienced chess player. My FIDE rating is about 2150. Even though I have decided to get a tuition,because when you are busy you barely have enough time to do that tough job of searching for tipical sample games which represent main ideas of the given variation ( rebuild my opening repertoire was I have proposed to myslef)and you need quite a number of them to understand them properly, when doing it by yourself(and you can't be 100% sure you are going to comprehend every single detail and correctly).Obviously I am aware that he couldn't give me EVERYTHING in such a short period of time-NOBODY COULD-but in fact, after not so many lessons I feel very comfortable playing the sistems he tought me even against titled players. I'd like to highlight that he is NEVER late and NEVER-EVER misses. He is a professional chess coach and not a sort of trainer that today is present and tomorrow has a tournament to play and is not able to keep with a lesson( and speaking frankly,his rates are MORE than reasonable!) P.S. Probably I got such an owesome impression because I didn't have even a slight language barrier,mentioned by other people who have been studing chess with Artiom,because we both speak Russian...

Having read several opening books over the years, which brings out the mechanical side to your chess, was willing to try a Coach. Hence, contacted ICC and started with Artiom. Having had several lessons with homework, he stresses the importance of tactics, but not in a vacuous way, but an interesting way..this has really improved my chess as this insight helped me to repeat a nice Queen sacrifice from one example! Artiom really cares about your chess, he is not in it for the money only, this was proved to me by his waiving fees temporarily. It is not only this, he is good at, but he will simplify openings to managable bitesizes which makes you 'think' about them. As one reviewer has mentioned, his English is not word perfect, but then again whose is? A really excellent Coach, you want value for chekels? Want to analyse your games in more depth? In my opinion, can't do better...

Artiom is very professional chess coach. Always punctual, polite and patient. Sometimes too advanced for my level of play, but I would recommend him as a coach if you are serious about chess improvemnt.

IM Artiom Tsepotan is an excellent teacher. His lessons are individually designed and he has a very good grasp of the weaknesses and stengths of the students. My classes with him were instructive, enjoyable and I have learned from him. I recommend him enthusiastically and without hesitations to all and particularly to the intermediate to master level chess student (1600-2200).

to be honest i initially chose,Artiom because of his very reasonable rates and i wanted to get some long term coaching to improve my chess.i've been playing for thirty years but my play did'nt seem to be improving so i thought some on-line lessons were needed.after about 3lessons i realised that the top players or coaches think about chess differently than the rest of us.they look at positions with greater deepth and think about chess in a more conceptional way.well have i learnt anything? absolutely,i look at chess differently than i used to,i think i look deeper into positions than in ever have and understand chess better... I go to the local chess club and i offend the players because i win all the time

Artiom is a very committed and very well organized teacher. His overall teaching programme is taylor-made to match the student's level. Each lesson is structured in such a way that it first highlights student's errors (through an analysis of played games) and then seeks to correct them. In my case the problem was poor opening skills and after 14 lessons that we have had so far I have improved this component of my game very significantly. My ICC rating has gone up by about 400 points and is now close to 2000 in Blitz and above 2000 in Standard. Artiom's approach is not just to make students learn opening moves, but also to understand them. Thanks to Artiom I now know what a player must seek to achieve in the openings and even if I encounter openings that we have not yet studied I manage to deal with them quite well. His homework assignments are also very helpful. They focus on tactics which is one of the key components of chess. I would also like to mention the fact that Artiom never misses (and is never late for) his classes. Finally, he accepts using such voice conversation software as Skype which greatly enhances the productivity of each lesson as it is easier to communicate, to ask questions which are more detailed and, most of all, to cover more material. In short, Artiom is a great teacher and I recommend him to all those wishing to improve their game.

As my first chess teacher I have little to compare him too but my overall impression was very good. He was very punctual to all our meetings and increased my rating as promised by 300 points. He made it easier for me to see tactical positions by patiently working with me to analyze several positions. Try not to think of Artiom as just a teacher but as a personal trainer. He works out your mind and increases your potential...the only complaint I would have is the language barrier. He is not very fluent in english and when I would ask a question it could take up to a minute to get a response, my conclusion was perhaps he was using some sort of translator or something else.

IM Artiom Tsepotan is from Kharkov, Ukraine. He recently organised the "Glassy Stream" International Chess Open to commemorate 350 years of Kharkov. I was recommended to Artiom from a friend of mine. I was unconvinced at first, and I was quite happy with the tuition of AKhruschiov. However, my initial teacher (of about a month) had to attend some GM-Norm tournaments and I needed a regular chess coach, so I took up my friends recommendation. The first lesson was a trial at a discounted chekel rate. The focus of Artiom's tuition is position analysis and the study of student's games. Artiom's tuition is unique. Instead of being an active tournament player who teaches, Artiom is a professional chess coach, an "IM Mark Dvoretsky" if you will. Instead of teaching chess theory, Artiom's approach is as a trainer. Initially, I thought the first lesson was a bit dry, simply because I had been exposed to aggressive dynamic play from my previous chess coach, but given the recent media acclaim and success of Ukrainian Chess of late, I thought I would continue and reserve judgement for now. After all, some of my favourite modern chess players are from the Ukraine. Over time I wondered about the value of the chess lessons. The chess learning I had done had been my own, but for some reason, I was thinking deeper and evaluating chess positions better. Why? What Artiom had done was to get me into a frame of mind to search for the idea behind the position. From then on I was convinced from then on that Artiom knew what he was doing. But what matters to me most is this that Artiom is interested in chess tuition and the progress of his students. He is punctual for his lessons, reliable, he cares about your chess, works hard, and wants you to do well through the provision of homework. Artiom is a model coach. This is quite a different from someone who merely gives a chess lesson and leaves. I would recommend Artiom to anyone who wants to deepen their understanding of chess. It is from this understanding that I have come to enjoy chess again, and understand the game from a whole new level. Artiom's tuition and friendliness is most appreciated.